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Cookin’ With Adrian First Hussar, York Word-master Adrian Spendlow cooked up an original mix
of poetry and music to nourish a verse-hungry crowd at The First Hussar pub. The city’s first professional poet,
accompanied by sad songsmith Dan Webster on guitar, has taken the artform and
made it his own on his Wednesday night slot . Using movement and facial expression to get over
his point, Adrian cleverly weaves verse in and out of well-known songs,
without them losing their thread. While Dan strummed and hummed his way through
Van Morrison’s Brown Eyed Girl, Adrian told a love poem about his “green eyed
girl”. In another, he converses with a “Dead Poets Society” consisting of
Dylan Thomas and Francis Bacon [among others],
backed by the Stone classic, Sympathy For the Devil. A lot of the set was sad and reflective - depressing even - but also thought
provoking. No more
so than with Clara - an emotional verse about a woman’s life
spiraling out of control due to drink and drugs. Powerful stuff. Adrian's warm-up act, River Stones, consisting of talented vocalist Jane Stockdale and keyboardist Dave Pearce also
shone, producing a soothing, melancholic folk sound. Stand-out track,
River, tackled the healing power of nature -
think Enya meets-Clannad. Go to Cookin’ With Adrian with a
willingness to experience something very different. Matthew Woodcock |
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Yorkshire Evening Press |